The Premier League strugglers fell to a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea earlier in December, before putting in a spirited performance in a 1-0 setback at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Pulis is now preparing his charges for an encounter with Chris Hughton's Norwich City side on New Year's Day, and the former Stoke City boss says the fixture has the same importance as those against the league's high-flyers.

"They are all worth three points," he told reporters. "The Man City game has gone now so the next big game is Norwich. Every game is a cup final for us in the Premier League.

"We played well at Chelsea and didn't get anything, we played really well at Man City and picked no points up.

"All that we did is brilliant for confidence and everything else and gives the players a lift to go out and compete with top-class players.

"[Expectation] is something you have to deal with. The players have to deal with that, there is no hiding the fact that we are playing at home and we need to win home games. We are hoping that we get some points.

"Norwich are one of the teams in the bottom half of the table who will be looking to get points as quickly as they can, much like us.

"I have a lot of respect for Chris and it is a smashing football club. I haven't seen them that much but I will watch a few games now until we play them on Wednesday."

Despite Palace's upturn in form under Pulis, the Welshman believes his side are still underdogs in the majority of matches they play.

He added: "The bottom line is when it comes to Wednesday we are playing another team who have more experience than us in the Premier League and have had more years to bed down.

"We will be the underdogs again, we are the underdogs most weeks and we just have to accept that."